The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Rotating assemblies are used in many applications. For example only, in automotive applications, wheel/tire assemblies are used to couple the vehicle to the ground. As the vehicle moves, wheel/tire assemblies rotate many times. At higher rates of speed, any weight imbalance in the wheel/tire assemblies may result in vibration, which increases wear on vehicle components and may be perceived as a poor ride by the driver.
As a result, wheel/tire assemblies are balanced in a balancing process. A balancing machine may spin a wheel/tire assembly to determine which points of the wheel/tire assembly require more or less weight so that the weight will be evenly distributed across the assembly. In most applications, it is easier to add additional weight than to remove weight.
The balancing machine may therefore determine how much weight to add to which locations of the wheel/tire assembly in order to balance the weight distribution of the assembly. In various implementations, two locations on the assembly may be selected, although more or fewer are possible. The balancing locations may be predetermined, and the balancing machine simply determines how much weight to apply to each of the predetermined balancing locations.
For a rimmed wheel, lead pound-on weights may be attached to the rim of the wheel. For example, lead weights from 0.5 ounces to 10 ounces in increments of 0.5 ounces may be stocked by businesses that balance wheel/tire assemblies. In this example, 20 different part numbers of lead weights must be inventoried and managed. The various lead weights may not look appreciably different in size, thereby leading to inadvertent mixing of the weights and inadvertent use of the wrong size of weight. In addition, lead toxicity is a concern. Other materials may be used for pound-on weights, such as iron. With iron pound-on weights, rust may be a concern.
To address these concerns, systems of encased lead weights have been developed. In these systems, individual weights (such as 0.5 ounce weights) are encased in a non-toxic coating, such as plastic, and the coating connects the individual weights together to form a segmented strip. Depending on the weight desired for balancing, the corresponding number of weights can be cut from the strip. The segmented strip of weights allows a single part number to be inventoried. The segmented strip may have an adhesive backing that secures the cut segments to the wheel/tire assembly. The non-toxic coating may protect against lead toxicity and/or rust.